Entries


K 9 6 5 3
4
A Q 9 7 3
10 9
4 8 7 2
K Q 8 6 5 A 10 9 7 2
K 8 4 2 10 5
Q 8 4 J 7 2
A Q J 10
J 3
J 6 Opening lead: K of hearts
A K 6 5 3 Contract: 6 spades

Should you make this contract? Yes, it should make. But here's a declarer who led away from his A Q of diamonds, guaranteeing that he'd go down. How did he happen to do that? Well, he did that because he just wasn't careful with his entries. The opening lead was overtaken by East and a club was shot back. No problem there. Declarer took three trump leads with the closed hand's honors, cashed the second club honor and ruffed a club with the 9, noting the 3-3 split, and . . . and . . .Well, how does he get back to the closed hand to take the diamond hook? Which just happens to be on.
Rather careless. Declarer actually had two means of picking up the rest of the tricks here. One would have been to ruff that third club with the K, not the 9, and then overtake the 9 in order to take the finesse. This is not the recommended line, of course, for it has several disadvantages if you don't get even breaks. If clubs aren't 3-3, you could be in a peck of trouble.
A far better line would have been to take the diamond hook before testing clubs. If it loses, of course, you're down, but so is everybody else in slam and anyway, you can't change the location of that K by putting off the finesse. You'd probably be well fixed to run out the hand with dummy's values, and if the diamond hook wins? Well, you sure don't want to lock yourself in dummy without means to take the finesse. And if it does win (declarer hadn't cashed his second club honor yet), you'll be well fixed if either minor splits 3-3. Further, you'll be well fixed, as the cards lie, to take the first three rounds of diamonds regardless of whether the J is covered or not! If it isn't covered, you win tricks with the J, Q and A, then ruff out the king. If it is covered, you win tricks with the A, Q and 9 and now ruff out the 8. And if diamonds don't turn out so favorably (say West has K 10 x x), you still have a club entry to the closed hand to ruff a club and on the 3-3 split get back with ruffing a diamond to run the clubs.